Helen had still not recovered any memories from the long stretch of her life between the night of the Source Blood and the birth of her daughter Ashley, but she remembered some generalities about her life. She could vaguely recall general facts that she had learned in her education, but specifics escaped her. She had attempted to look over her scientific notes only to find them incomprehensible. Henry suggested that maybe she just needed to review fundamentals and directed her to the library. She could read just fine, but…well, after ten minutes or so she couldn't focus any longer. Nikola said that she just needed to start mental training and began taking her to a brain injury therapist. Sessions with him were extremely discouraging. The first question he asked was why she hadn't come sooner. She supposed that the secrecy of her life and occupation was the true reason why, but obviously she couldn't say that and was forced to simply claim ignorance. He then took Nikola aside and scolded him at length, unfortunately within her earshot.

"It's practically criminal negligence! There's a window of time in which recovery can happen. Every day that goes by it gets smaller. As long as it's been, it's unlikely she'll ever recover anything like full function." Helen felt crushed. It was too late. After a while, she also felt a little bad for her husband, but the conversation also planted a seed of doubt in her mind. Could he have done more for her? Was secrecy really such a necessity that he had put her health and future at risk? Her mental conflict eventually became so severe that she couldn't bear going to therapy any longer. When Nikola questioned her she just said it was making her sad and afraid. After witnessing her fidgeting and furrowed brow in the waiting room he relented and told her she didn't have to go anywhere she didn't want to. "Maybe you just need to go your own pace." He soothed as he drove her home from the therapist's office for the last time. "You'll see. It will come back in time."

…

Henry reintroduced her to the abnormals in her-well, in the Sanctuary's care. He helped her learn how about their nutritional requirements as well as how to check their enclosure settings. It was enjoyable and felt completely new to her. The creatures were fascinating and she was proud of the work her former self had done to save their lives. Hopefully they would eventually be able to reintroduce them to their native habitats. The sentient abnormals were exceedingly sympathetic when her amnesia was explained to them. She smiled and tried to avoid them as much as possible.

Nikola had shown her the administrative aspect of their work. He seemed overly proud of the electronic records system he had set up. "What if the power goes out? Are there backup hard copies?" She demanded. Nikola shook his head. "It's all backed up on our offsite server. Don't worry." There wasn't even any filing she could do. He had automated everything as much as possible and had all data being entered through pads, one for himself and another for Henry. She inquired what else she usually did and Nikola looked uncomfortable. "A lot of your time was taken up with research, administrative work, medical care for the inmates-" "Don't call them that!" He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. Um, and you did a lot of fund raising." Helen brightened at that last task.

"Well, there's nothing preventing me from doing that." Nikola looked uncomfortable, "Yes…that's true…" he said slowly. Helen scowled, "What? What is it?" He came over and took her in his arms. "It's just, that's…that's what you were doing when the accident happened." Helen gently stroked this strange yet deeply familiar man's face. He was her husband, of course he was worried. "We can't live in fear." She whispered then kissed him tenderly.

…

Unfortunately, there were no fund raising opportunities in the near future, so she spent most of her time getting acquainted with her various colleagues and employees. Big Guy was a shock but after a surprisingly short period of time she found herself just relating to him like any other person. Kate treated her with poorly concealed pity and she couldn't help but feel hostile toward her for that reason. She was introduced to Declan in a video conferencing session. Mostly he had a lot of questions for Henry and Nikola about the state of Old City's abnormal community and about whether Will would be healed soon or not. Hearing them talk shop made her feel like a useless third wheel. Whoever this Will person was, it seemed that once he healed everyone expected him to take over the Sanctuary. In the meantime, Nikola was becoming more and more adept at handling things. He was already making decisions about staffing for the future, asking Declan to find doctor and veterinarian candidates for them, telling him that he'd like to transfer Kate. Helen sighed inaudibly and tried to keep a polite smile on her face until the conference was over.

…

"Nikola, do we usually have a lot of sex?" A bark of laughter escaped his lips at her blunt question and he rolled over in their king sized four poster bed, enjoying the feeling of the silk sheets. "Yeah, I guess. It was about, twice a week on weekdays, then two or three times a night on weekends. Is that a lot?" Helen cocked her head cutely on her pillow. "I suppose…We haven't had sex all this time. Aren't you…well, it's not good for your health to go without when that's what you're used to-" "Oh my god, no one believes that anymore Helen! I don't think anyone's believed that since 19…hmm, I'm not sure, some time in the '20s I think." They lay there side by side in a comfortable if expectant silence. Nikola smiled as Helen took a deep breath. "I found some things in the closet yesterday." "Ah, so that's what this is about." "Yes, do you-Is that what you require in order to…" Nikola laughed a bit nervously, "I wouldn't go quite so far as to say 'require' but, I do enjoy being…restrained-" "Oh, you mean it's for you? I would have thought-" "Hmm, I asked you about it, but you weren't interested. You were fine with being…in control of things." Nikola was started to get aroused by the conversation. His mind was playing through some very pleasant memories with his strong, rather bossy wife. Of course, he reminded himself, their relationship was rather different now. But maybe not that different.

"Did you want to…?" Nikola asked. Helen turned toward her husband and hugged him to her. "Okay. I would like to try." Nikola smiled happily as she pressed her body up against his. "Mmm, you're so warm." He whispered in her ear. "I've missed this." Helen felt nervous. She couldn't actually remember having had sex before, not just with Nikola, but with anyone. She kissed him tentatively then slid her hands over his bare chest. The slim, wiry muscles were firm and hot under her hands. She lay back, pulled her nightgown up to her waist and spread her legs, waiting for him to mount her. After a few moments she opened her eyes and looked over at her husband. He was looking at her with a troubled look on his face.

"Is this not how we usually do it?" She asked meekly. He shook his head, glanced down at the bed and murmured "It's okay though. It's different right now." "Do you, you do want me right?" Helen whined feeling humiliated. Nikola quickly embraced her pressing her face into his shoulder. "Of course I do!" He kissed her as passionately as he could, caressed and squeezed her breasts through the cotton nightgown, then slid his hand down to her pussy. It was still dry. No problem, he thought bringing his fingers to his mouth and wetting them with his saliva. He rubbed her clit, attempting to arouse her, but she didn't seem to be responding much, if at all. He pressed a finger inside of her and she gasped. Was it with excitement or pain? He honestly couldn't tell. Usually, by now she was as wet as the Nile.

"Are you okay?" he whispered as he thrust his finger into her tight heat. "I think so." She whispered back. Oh my god, she's like a virgin, he thought as he pulled his finger out of her. He pushed two fingers into her mouth. "Get it wet." He groaned as he watched her sucking on his fingers. Once he figured she had done an adequate job he thrust two fingers in her watching her face closely for signs of pain. "Okay?" he murmured, entranced by her unfocused inward gaze as she experienced being penetrated for the first time that she could remember. "Do you want me to fuck you now?" he asked urgently after she nodded. She was silent for a while. "Tell me. Do you want me inside you?" he demanded, excited and harder than he'd been in years. Helen kissed his cheeks and sighed, "Yes."

He quickly slicked up his dick then mounted her, pressing firmly into her sweet little hole. She tried gamely to take him in, but was struggling, whimpering and jumping every time he tried to thrust inside of her. He kept expecting to feel her give, to feel her moisten as she became aroused, but she never did. Soon she was crying softly. Feeling bad he abruptly pulled out of her, wincing as she moaned with obvious pain. He embraced her, showering little kisses over her wet cheeks. "It's okay. It's normal to have a little difficulty at first." He got off her and lay next to her, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry. It will work itself out." Helen didn't reply, just cried until she fell asleep.

…

Helen was embarrassed to ask, but that's what psychologists were for right? Asking embarrassing personal questions including about marital relations. She knocked on the door of Dr. Newman and quickly took a seat across from her as directed. After the standard catch up questions she got to the point. "Is it normal to have sexual difficulties after traumatic brain injury?" Dr. Newman, ever the consummate professional said, "Certainly it can be. Is this an ongoing problem, or something you've only just become aware of?" Helen sighed, "We tried for the first time a few days ago and it hurt." Dr. Newman hummed thoughtfully, "Were you anxious?" Helen nodded but interjected, "I've talked with my husband, asked him what our relations were like before the accident. He said we never had trouble like this before. Also, I feel like he…like I wasn't meeting his expectations. That I am really different than before." She sniffled, "Maybe…maybe I've become…frigid…" The psychologist quickly put up a hand, "Now, we don't use that term anymore in psychological practice. It's a completely unscientific idea. Have you done any self-exploration or masturbation?" Helen blushed and shook her head. "For now, I would advise you to do so. This is to determine if you are experiencing a physical problem or if it is primarily psychological." Helen nodded, "Yes that makes sense. Thank you, doctor."

…

"I like you blonde again. Did Henry tell you how to dye it?" Nikola stroked her hair and kissed her cheek as she sat at her vanity. He looked simultaneously dashing and devilish as he looked over her shoulder in the mirror. "Yes, it wasn't difficult. I thought it would be nice. We have happy memories together, looking this way." Nikola wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her gently. "I've been masturbating." Helen said abruptly. Her husband coughed then laughed, "You're trying to kill me, I swear. Aiming to prove that celibacy is destroying my health, is that it?" Helen smiled back at him in the mirror, delighted by his reaction. "Yes, I think you're definitely showing signs of strain. Dark circles under your eyes, an unhealthy pallor, skinny as a rail-" "Aw, come on! I'm fine. You're the one I worry about-" "Well, that's just it, I need to take care of you too."

Nikola swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Oh, are you offering to 'take care' of me?" His wife's smile faded. "I want to, so badly…" Nikola picked her up, sat her down on the bed and stood before her, pushing her legs apart with his own. "So, did you think about me while you were touching yourself?" He whispered, staring down into her eyes. Helen averted her eyes shyly until he took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. Her eyes darted down to the bulge in his pants then back to his intense gray blue eyes. "Yes. And, I did get wet." Nikola groaned and openly rubbed his erection through his trousers in front of her. "Oh my god, you're so shameless." She whispered, only to be met with a dirty smirk and dark laughter, "You're my wife. Nothing is off limits, is it?" Helen thought for a moment then slowly shook her head. Nikola took her hand and put it on his hard dick. "Unzip me." He demanded.

Helen licked her lips, totally unconscious of how provocative this made her look, then gently drew down the zipper of Nikola's fine wool trousers. "Take it out." She looked up at her husband, his eyes were dark with lust, watching raptly as she peeled the layers of cloth away and pulled out his cock. "Do you remember how I used to beg you to take me in your mouth? You'd have me tied up, bruised and sore from a hard whipping, and I'd be so hard for you. I'd cry and beg and you, you would laugh." Helen shook her head, she didn't remember a thing. "Well, good. Now I'll finally get my revenge. Come on, open your mouth." He watched as her bosom rose and fell more rapidly. Was she anxious or excited? Did he care at the moment?

The thought snapped him out of his lustful state momentarily, "Are you okay?" he whispered, almost like asking was a secret. Helen smiled softly, "Yes. I want to please you." Nikola nodded, then asked again, "Are you enjoying this?" Helen put his cock in her mouth and hummed with apparent enjoyment. Nikola groaned as her hot mouth enveloped his sensitive flesh. "Fuck. Ah, yes." He held her head gently and thrust shallowly into her mouth, not sure how much she could take. After a surprisingly short period of time he was ready to cum. "Ah, Helen, I'm going to, uh, ejaculate…" He stopped thrusting but she just stroked him with her hands and slid her mouth over his glans herself. "Oh my god…do you want it in your mouth?" he managed to gasp out. "Mm-hm." She hummed around him as he tensed then let himself go. She stilled as the sour liquid gathered on her tongue. Her husband gasped for air a bit, then looked down at her frozen around his dick. Meeting his dazed gaze she deliberately swallowed with a little wince, then pulled off. "Was it good?" she breathed, exhausted from her efforts.

Nikola flopped onto the bed next to her. "It was great. So very, very great." He wrapped his arms around her hips and snuggled his face against her leg. "Ah, you sucked the life out of me." He lifted his head and yawned. "I'm sorry, I should make you cum too…" he mumbled as his eyes drooped. Helen stroked the back of his neck. "Come on, let's put you to bed. You're too exhausted from taking care of your brain damaged wife and running the Sanctuary to try and please me." Nikola slowly got to his feet and let her help him get undressed. "Don't talk bad about yourself. You're getting better every day…" His pep talk was interrupted by another yawn. "Yes darling. I know." Helen smiled at her sweet husband then led him to the bathroom. "Go on. I'll be there in a minute."

…

Helen was feeling much better about herself lately. She was more comfortable with her husband now that she felt sexually competent and she was relearning to cook from Big Guy. After a few disasters she managed to make Nikola's favorite dish. "Sarma! What did you put in it?" Knowing that he didn't eat red meat she told him she had put only rice and herbs. "Who taught you to make cabbage rolls? You've never made them before. They take forever." She smiled at his childlike delight, served him a couple cabbage rolls with a boiled potato then poured him a Premier Cru. "Helen, you found the wine cellar." He smiled charmingly as he tasted the fine vintage. "Mhm! Excellent, you always did have great taste in wine." Helen beamed at the compliments. Henry smiled and complimented her on her cooking as well. "I've never had anything like it before. What kind of recipe is it?" Helen thanked him and said, "It's a common dish in Eastern Europe. This is the Serbian version, but they have it in Germany too. My father told me grandmother used to make it." Nikola shook his head, "You never told me that. I'm glad to still be learning new things about you. And I'm grateful you remember your father. He was a good man." Helen nodded solemnly. "I'm grateful too."

…

Helen was hiding in the bathroom crying silently. The fundraiser was going well enough, no thanks to her. Accustomed as he was to separating rich people from their money in order to fund his often dubious projects, Nikola charmed strangers with the ease of a professional con artist. Meanwhile, she was hardly able to make small talk. After falling on her face for the first half hour she ended up finding her husband and letting him steer her around the floor like arm candy until she excused herself to go to the ladies' room. All she could think was how disappointing she must be. That other Helen Magnus, she was so smart. Educated, vivacious, assertive and strong. And she was gone. It had been months since the accident and everyone kept saying that she needed to be patient, that she would recover, but she wasn't recovering. Or rather, she had gotten a lot better, but she hadn't gone back to being her former self. Sitting there on the toilet, she realized that she had to let go of the expectation that she ever would. The only problem was, would everyone else let the old her go too?

…

"Will is in physical therapy now. The doctor's said he won't be able to walk unassisted, but they're getting him a good wheel chair and training his upper body a lot. He'll be out of the hospital in a couple weeks they said." Nikola's head shot up from his work bench at Henry's announcement. "Really? Well, good, I'm ready to get back to inventing." Henry chuckled, "Are you sure man? The Sanctuary seems like a tight ship lately. You finally got everything running smoothly." Nikola scoffed. "Begging for money brought back too many bad memories. I felt dirty afterward. Had to take a shower." He quickly assembled the casing of the stunner he was fixing and asked rakishly, "Wanna go down to the range and test it out?" Henry whooped, "Hell yeah! The mice will play while the cat's away!"

…

Nikola came to their room early that night. He seemed excited about something. "Will's coming back next Friday. You've always liked him. I'm not sure why, but it will make everything around here a lot easier. And the Sanctuary will start going on missions again. I'll let Will deal with recruiting a new team for that." Helen nodded, unsure what to make of the news. Would Will's presence make her seem even more useless than she already was? Or would the increase in missions mean that they would need her help with caring for new abnormals?

"That's good." She said diffidently getting to her feet and helping her husband get undressed. She was already in her nightgown. Once he was down to his boxers he kissed and hugged her, sliding his hands over her back to her bottom. With a mischievous smile he gave her a little squeeze, making her squeal and jump. They laughed a bit then she fiddled with the bow on her nightgown. "Do you want to do anything tonight?" Nikola kissed her then asked casually, "What do you want me to do?" Uncomfortable with having to ask for what she wanted directly, she tried to deflect a bit. "We'll do whatever you want. What you've always wanted to do…" Nikola got the hint right away. "Can I tie you up?" She quickly nodded. "Can I-I'll whip you very lightly, not very much." "It's okay Nikola, I know you wouldn't hurt me." He went to the closet and got the restraints. The front of his boxers was already tenting, he was so excited.

Helen allowed her husband to lead her to the end of the bed and let him slip the padded cuffs around her ankles and wrists. "Strip." He ordered. The alacrity with which she obeyed made him want to push her to her knees before him and cum on her face. "Good girl." He crooned as he secured her to the posts of the bed so that she was standing spread eagled. "God, you look so hot." He slapped her full, white bottom lightly watching it jiggle enticingly. "Are you ready?" he queried, hoping she wouldn't lose her resolve. "Yes dear. Please whip me for your pleasure." He groaned. She was so submissive. It was like she lived only to please him. "Such a good girl." He grabbed the whip and gently gave her a smack. She jumped a little in surprise but quickly settled. "Harder?" he asked huskily. "Ok." She whispered. He gave her a solid strike and she gasped softly. "Was that too much?" "No, that was fine." He nodded satisfied then began whipping her at a slow pace, savoring the way her soft body shivered and squirmed, enjoying her soft cries. After twelve strokes he put his hand between her spread legs and probed her plump sex, pressing his fingers between the furry lips. It was just a little bit wet. "Getting ready for my dick, is that it? Do you want me to fuck you?" Helen breathed, "Yes, please." And tried to press herself back against his hips.

He unbuckled her wrists and pushed her upper body down onto the bed, exposing her widely spread cunt. He yanked down his boxers and grabbed his hard erection in his hand guiding it into her, splitting her open. She yelped as he pressed into her, but this time despite her walls gripping and resisting his thrusting dick he felt her starting to give. "Oh fuck! Take it deeper…" he groaned as he pulled out and worked his way deeper into her. She squirmed and wriggled on the end of his cock, then let out short breathless moans with every thrust he gave her. Finally, he made it all the way in, her hot body embracing him lusciously. "Do you enjoy me using you for my pleasure like this?" he rasped as he fucked her roughly. "Oh god! Yes, I'm here for you to use!" she cried passionately, sobbing as he slapped her ass hard. "Mm, darling, you're so good…" With a final deep thrust he shot his load inside her then collapsed sweaty and exhausted over her back.

Helen lay docilely under her husband, letting him enjoy satisfying his needs on her. Her pussy was throbbing and sore, stretched around his hard manhood. Gradually, she felt him soften within her. Finally he sighed and got off of her, pulling out of her. She lay there quietly feeling the wetness of his seed sliding out of her. "Mm, you look gorgeous like this." Nikola murmured then started unbuckling her ankles.

As she curled up on the bed he rubbed her legs briskly, taking away any soreness. His hands slowed to gentle caresses and he whispered intensely, "Do you want me to make you cum?" Helen shook her head, worried that she wouldn't be able to orgasm and he'd be disappointed. "Don't worry, I can do it," he wheedled. "I used to give you so many that you had to beg me to stop…" His hand wandered up her leg to cup her damp sex. "No! I'm not her!" she cried pushing his hand away. Nikola was brought up short. "What? You're you. You're Helen Magnus." Helen's blue eyes met his own. They were brimming with tears. "I haven't-I couldn't…" She gasped for air as she choked up. "I don't think I can have one. I tried by myself and got nowhere. So, stop expecting me to be like I was before. I'm not!"

Nikola sensed that this was about more than sex and became serious. He nodded resolutely, "Yes, I know you're not like you were." Helen cringed, feeling ashamed. "You're different. I asked you to let me do this to you and you refused before. You weren't comfortable being vulnerable, not ever, not just in sex but in everything. Do you remember that about yourself?" Helen shook her head bemused by the turn this conversation was taking. "It's true that back then I admired you for your strength, but you were never strong enough to trust me with yourself like you have now. And I love it. I love how you're willing and able to give me this. It makes me…I feel like you accept every part of me, that you're willing to see all of me."

Helen nodded but was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. It seemed to her that Nikola was making this all about himself. "Okay," she said doubtfully, "I understand. I'm getting tired and I'm going to get ready for bed." She got off the bed and went to the bathroom, closing the door after herself. Nikola huffed annoyed by her dismissive air. "Okay. I understand." He parroted mockingly then got in bed. "Whatever you want Helen. You're still the boss of me." He muttered to himself as he fell asleep.

…

Helen was hiding in the labyrinth in the garden. Everyone seemed to be pressuring her to try and 'get back to normal.' Nikola had been asking her how her studies were going. She lied and said fine. Actually, she'd given up after finding herself reading the same page over and over and still not being focused enough to remember anything from it. In several weeks she had managed the first two chapters of a basic microbiology textbook. Apparently there was a steep learning curve starting in chapter three.

Henry had been sucked into one of his enthusiasms and was spending all hours of the day and night developing this new computer program for who knew what. He'd asked if she could take over his half of the paperwork that he split with Nikola and she had foolishly agreed. Most of the forms were for securing funding from governmental and non-governmental agencies and were of the type that included elaborate numbered multistep instructions. She was completely swamped after a few days by new forms appearing in the inbox. Eventually, she had had to go back to Henry and admit to not being able to keep on top of it. He tried to give her some pointers but eventually gave up after realizing that she wasn't able to keep the multiple steps in her memory. The look of disappointment on his face made her so upset she had pled illness and left the room.

The only one that hadn't been trying to 'help her recover' was Big Guy. He just helped her learn new recipes and complained about the mess in Nikola's lab. After a while she got the hint and took a look at the conditions in there. Wine glasses and coffee cups littered every available surface. She started picking up after him, in part because it alleviated the burden on Big Guy, but also just to feel like it was something useful she could do.

She'd taken to sitting here alone in the labyrinth whenever the anxiety of dealing with things became too much. At least here she could stop pretending to be something she wasn't. At least here there weren't all those concerned gazes and caring questions. She just wanted to be left alone. Stop asking how she was feeling. Stop asking if she were working on recovering. Stop asking how therapy was going. It was going fine, just it wasn't going to make her go 'back to normal.' Whatever that meant.

"Helen? Are you in there?" She sighed softly, recognizing Nikola's voice. Not one moment's peace, she thought. Briefly she entertained the idea of staying silent and hoping he went away, but gave up. After all he could just come inside and see if she were there. "Yes, I'm just relaxing here. It's very peaceful." Nikola appeared at the entrance of the central clearing of the labyrinth. "You're not hiding from me are you?" he asked humorously. She smiled reluctantly. "You got me. I'm hiding from everyone." Nikola came and sat next to her on the marble bench. It was so small he was pressed up against her. "Why? What's wrong?"

Helen huffed and rolled her eyes. "I just want to give up on all this crap. I'm tired. My brain feels tired. And I don't feel right. Everything upsets me for no reason." Nikola nodded, "That's normal for your condition. But you have to keep trying to get better. If you stop putting in any effort you'll never recover." It was the same thing she'd heard again and again ever since she'd come home. She jumped up angrily, "I'm sorry you miss the old Helen so much! Nobody appreciates anything I do, or how much effort it takes me! You're not the one feeling this way, so how do you know what's best anyhow?" She stormed off and went to her room, then locked the door for the first time. Locking Nikola out.

…

Henry came across Tesla in the hallway yelling though the closed door of his and Helen's room. "Helen, be reasonable! You can't continue like this! Let me in!" The burly young man quickly turned tail and went back to his lab. "Trouble in paradise…" he muttered, wondering what their argument was about.

…

After a couple hours of Nikola pounding on the door Helen finally relented and let him in. He was visibly angry. "What the hell is wrong with you?! I've taken care of you all this time and that's all I'm trying to do now. You need to keep trying to get better." Helen slammed the door with a frustrated growl. "You're not listening to anything I say! I'm not going to get much better. It's been what, six months?" Nikola was brought up short. "Well, yeah, I guess that's about-" Helen pushed past him and marched over to their portrait. She pointed sharply at the dark-haired woman with her secretive smile and confident gaze. "Does she look like me?" Nikola raised a brow dubiously, "You're hair is different-" "No! Look at me, really see me." She brought a hand to her cheek, wiping away tears. "Don't you see? Can't you look me in the eyes and just see it? I'm not her. She's not coming back!"

Nikola changed tacks sensing that this conversation was going nowhere fast. "What did the neurologist say?" Helen sighed, "You know what he said…Recovery takes a lifetime…" She slumped, hanging her head, looking so obviously full of despair that Nikola needed to comfort her. He went over to her and gently took her in his arms. "I know you're discouraged, but people have been known to make big improvements in two or five years-" Helen pushed him away gently, then looked up into his eyes. "I feel like a different person. I remember what it was like to be her. Not totally, but enough. And I need a feeling of certainty, of…closure I guess. I want to just, build a new life. I want to be myself."

Her husband looked deeply into her eyes. Ultimately, he realized, he wanted her to be happy. "Are you happy with your life, with the things you're doing…?" He trailed off uncertainly, reflecting on how she was doing the sort of menial Sanctuary tasks that she used to delegate to Kate or Henry. Or himself on occasion if he was honest. The last few months flashed through his mind, especially how happy she was to be complimented on her cooking of all things. Helen Magnus didn't-he stopped that train of thoughts in its tracks. This Helen Magnus did cook, and she enjoyed it. Suddenly he realized that she had been picking up after him for the last couple days.

"Are you cleaning up after me in the lab? Usually it just builds up until Big Guy breaks down and takes all my empties away at the end of the week, but they're gone everyday now…" Helen nodded. He expected her to look embarrassed, but instead she looked proud. "You didn't even notice until now, did you? I'm taking care of you." A warm tightness formed in his chest and tears filled his eyes. "You have been haven't you?" He embraced his wife tightly burying his face in her hair. "Thank you darling, my sweet darling." Helen caressed his neck and whispered in his ear with a smile, "You're welcome dear."

…

Apparently the couple had made up but they were acting really bizarre. Henry had to keep wiping the incredulous expression off his face as he watched Magnus wait on Tesla like an episode of a bad sitcom from the 1950s. 'What the hell did he do to her?!' was all he kept thinking. Eventually, they were alone in the main lab working together on a force field device and he decided it was a good time to bring it up.

"So, you two look happy lately. Any changes I should know about?" Tesla was literally humming while he worked, "Hm? Oh, Helen decided she's going to take a break from studying. It's been causing her too much stress." Henry mulled that over. "Um…well, so long as she's still taking care of her health…" Tesla nodded absently as he screwed some loose wires down, "Yeah, I'm taking her to a neurology appointment tomorrow. I'll be taking the sedan." Henry tsked, "You only want it because of that old beef you had with Magnus, that it should have been your anniversary present." The Serb chuckled, "It's okay, I'm the only one that drives it anymore, and she did let me pick the color."

Henry hummed absently in response, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Magnus' subservient behavior. Tesla looked him in the eye, opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, then looked away and cleared his throat. "I know what you want to ask. It makes her happy to…" he abruptly stopped, then tried again, "This sort of thing," he gestured to the coffee cup Magnus had given him, "it's something she can do. The strongest memories she has are of her early life. Surely you know what sort of duties women were supposed to perform back then?"

'Duties?' Henry mused incredulously then got side tracked by the idea of other wifely duties and had to derail that train of thought fast. "Oh, that makes sense I guess. Yeah, she must feel a little insecure right now, but it's obvious that she likes having, uh, work to do." Henry turned back to his workbench putting the issue out of his mind through concentrating on precise soldering.

…

Henry got the wheel chair out of the back of the van and brought it over to the passenger side. There was an awkward moment where he had to pick Will up to put him in the chair. Will studiously looked away from him, obviously uncomfortable. Everything would be easier once they installed the wheel chair lift. Once he was in the chair, Will took off heading for the door. "Let me get it for you man." Henry trotted over to try and open the door for his friend but was shoved aside. "No, I can do it." Will snapped then got through the door with a bit of struggle.

The two young men proceeded to the lift then Henry pressed the button, intending to take Will to his room. "No, I want to go to my office." Henry shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Don't you want to get some rest? Tomorrow-" "We must have a huge backlog. I need to start trying to get on top of it." Will wheeled toward the buttons and started reaching for it when Henry blocked him. "You'll need to be trained in the new system anyway, so it's best if you just take the day to get settled." "Oh yeah, I forgot you digitized things. Can't you just go over it with me?" The elevator doors opened to the bedroom level. Henry got out and waited for Will to reluctantly come out. "Tesla will have to go over his half of it with you. And as for my half-" "What do you mean Tesla's half?" Will asked surprised. "We divided the paperwork so that we could handle all our other work." Henry proceeded down the hall toward Will's room forcing the blond to follow. "What about Magnus? Surely she must be doing most of it by now?"

Henry stopped abruptly in the middle of the hall and turned to face what was now essentially his boss. "You know, I made the call not to tell you, so it's best I break it to you. Her brain damage was more severe than I led you to believe; persistent memory loss, inability to concentrate for long, difficulty with complex tasks, poor working memory, and she's…well, she's kinda emotionally fragile I guess you would say. The neurologist says it will likely be a couple years before she can handle much more than what she's doing now. And the psychologist said that it's very important not to stress her out or let her get discouraged." Will nodded solemnly. Things were a lot different than he expected. He sighed and gestured for Henry to continue leading him to his room. This time when the door was opened for him he didn't complain. He had the feeling that he would have his work cut out for him tomorrow dealing with all these changes.

…

Will tapped his fingers aggressively on his desk, wishing he could pace he felt so agitated as he waited for Henry to see him in his office. Finally the burly dark haired man arrived, with a worried look on his face. "What's up, Will?" he asked, seeming so concerned. "What the hell did Tesla do to her?! Making him breakfast, that fucking sandwich and coffee on a goddamn silver tray for lunch?! Asking him all cutesy if he would deign to help her figure out how to check some boxes on her tablet? What the fuck was that? This is either some severe personality change or he's convinced her she's better off being his domestic slave now that she's vulnerable!" Henry was bewildered, "How do you know all that?" Will turned his monitor around to show Henry the security feed. Henry shook his head and pulled a face at the fact that Will was spying on his former boss and her husband.

"That's not cool man. Unless there's some reason, checking security is really my job…" Will tsked disgusted, "Come on, you were here. What's been going on while I've been gone?" The dark-haired man slumped in the chair across from Will. "I know it's super weird for the old Magnus, but you gotta realize that right now cooking is one of the few multistep tasks she can do. It makes her feel good about herself. The tablet thing, well, Tesla only just installed new sensors in all the enclosures. She was probably just seeing some new items on the checklist she goes through when she makes the rounds. And as for the creepy Suzy Homemaker behavior, well, I don't want to know what that's about really. But she seems happy. Actually they're all lovey dovey. It's so gross."

There was a short silence as Will shook his head bewildered by how Henry was either oblivious to the problem or taking Tesla's side. Surely he could see that Helen was in trouble, that Tesla still couldn't be trusted. "I know you think that since he's been devamped he's stopped being…quite so bad, but trust me. I've been observing him since then and the way he acted when he was manic was just an exaggerated version of his normal self. He has a flexible interpretation of the truth, a strong desire for power and control, and just a generally high opinion of himself. He also has a mean streak-" Henry interrupted indignantly, "The other stuff I can agree with but he's not that way with Helen-" "For Christsake, he tried to kill her once!" "That was while he was still sick. Come on Will, you're the psychologist. You know that doesn't count."

Will huffed, "Yeah, I guess that's going too far. I'm upset. I'll acknowledge that, but that doesn't make my point not worth investigating. How do we know he hasn't been discouraging her attempts at recovery? You've got to admit that he looks awfully happy about being waited on hand and foot. And this whole dress up thing they have going on, well, that might have made sense to help bring back her memories, but at this point I'd have to say it's counterproductive. For all we know, Magnus is stuck in some sort of Victorian role of women in marriage idea and Tesla is just reinforcing it because he's enjoying being the boss for once."

The psychologist could tell he was getting to the technician. Now to plant one more seed of doubt. "We both have no idea what goes on behind closed doors with them. Tesla is more than sarcastic. He's verbally abusive. And that's to me and you, people that he's probably restraining himself around. What must he be like to someone he doesn't have to do that with? Someone who's dependent on him to such a degree that she's relying on him to tell her who she is..." Henry groaned, "I don't want to think that kind of thing! She's doing a lot better, and so long as she looks happy and says she's happy, and there's no sign of abuse, then we should mind our own business! It's their relationship. She chose to marry him when she was her old self and I trust the old Magnus' judgement, and so should you!"

Despite the seeming rejection of his suspicions Will felt satisfied. That kind of strong reaction could only mean that Henry had his own doubts that he was trying to deny. Now he would inevitably be on the lookout for any little thing that might indicate coercion or abuse.

…